Money

Currency

The currency of Bermuda is the Bermuda dollar. There are 100 cents to the dollar. The Bermuda dollar is pegged to the US dollar on a 1-to-1 basis.

Both currencies are equally acceptable at all establishments. The US dollar is therefore the currency of choice since any remaining cash is exchangeable almost anywhere in the world; a situation which is not true for the Bermuda dollar.

Ensure you change all Bermuda currency, other than that required for novelty purposes, into US dollars before you leave Bermuda. There are no currency restrictions in force when leaving Bermuda.

When making purchases, change may be given in a combination of US and Bermudian currency.

Notes

Notes come in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 Bermuda dollars. A set of newly designed notes was issued in March 2009 to mark the island’s 400th anniversary.

The redesign was the first since the Bermuda dollar was first issued in 1970. Unlike the previous notes, the designs are vertically orientated, not horizontally like the previous design and currencies such as the dollar, pound, and euro.

Controversially, the main images on the front of the new notes are those of local fauna and not of the Queen. Her image was significantly reduced in size and moved to a less prominent position at front left corner of each note.

The first issue also contained a significant error. The image of the longtail on the $50 note was that of a species not found in Bermuda. After complaints from the likes of David Wingate of the Bermuda Audubon Society, a new note with an image of the native species was issued in August 2012. The erroneous note could well become a valuable collector’s item in the future.

The $20 and $100 notes also received some criticism for featuring the whistling tree frog and the red cardinal, both introduced to the island by man. Bermuda’s national bird, the cahow, was overlooked.

The new notes feature important anti-counterfeiting features including a watermark of a hibiscus flower, an Optiks thread with a map of Bermuda and an image of a tuna, and a latent image of the note value. Optiks is anti-counterfeit technology devised by banknote printers De La Rue. The wide security thread is see-through, exposing the imagery on both sides of the note.

The old banknotes ceased to be legal tender on January 1 2014.

Coins

There are 1, 5, 10 and 25 cent coins, and also a 1 dollar coin.

Value

Front Image

Reverse Image

1 cent

Queen Elizabeth II

Wild Hog

5 cents

Queen Elizabeth II

Angelfish

10 cents

Queen Elizabeth II

Easter Lilies

25 cents

Queen Elizabeth II

Longtail

1 dollar

Queen Elizabeth II

Bermuda Fitted Dinghy

Bermuda Dollar Exchange Rate

The Bermuda dollar exchange rate is fixed at a rate of 1 BMD to 1 USD, very convenient for the island’s US visitors.

The exchange rate with currencies such as the euro, pound, and Canadian dollar fluctuates from day to day.

Current exchange rates for the Bermuda dollar with popular currencies are:

Canada – 1 Canadian dollar (CAD) = 0.79 Bermuda Dollar (BMD)

Eurozone – 1 euro (EUR) = 1.07 Bermuda Dollar (BMD)

UK – 1 British pound (GBP) = 1.48 Bermuda Dollar (BMD)

USA – 1 US dollar (USD) = 1 Bermuda Dollar (BMD)

These are live Bermuda dollar exchange rates. They were last updated on Tuesday 31st of March 2015 at 10:29 pm GMT.

ATMs

There are four locally licenced banks in Bermuda. Three of them (HSBC, Butterfield, and Clarien) operate retail banking divisions with a network of ATMs.

Credit Cards

Major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) are accepted by nearly all shops, restaurants, and hotels.

Money Transfers

The Bermuda Financial Network is an official agent for Western Union. The company offers money transfers to and from more than 200 countries. They have branches in Hamilton, St George, and Sandys.

Hog Money

When the first colonists arrived on the island there was no currency so they used tobacco, gold, and silver as a means of exchange. Hog money (also spelt hogge money) was Bermuda’s first currency and was sent over from England in 1616 with the second Governor, Daniel Tucker. They were crudely made with an image of a sailing ship on one side and a hog on the other.

Unlike most coins of the time, they were made of base metal and had little intrinsic value. Despite their introduction, the colonists continued to use tobacco and precious metals to barter, and they were soon discontinued.

Today the coins are extremely rare. A few of those still in existence can be seen are held at Commissioner’s House at the National Museum of Bermuda.

Comments and Additional Information

There are no American banks in Bermuda. The only ATMs are those provided by the local banks (Butterfield, HSBC Bermuda, and Clarien). Your US cards should work fine in the local ATMs. Most ATMs will dispense Bermuda dollars.

It is always a good idea to notify your bank of your intention to travel to Bermuda. Banking systems are a bit over cautious sometimes and may freeze an account when foreign transactions take place.